Moon Bound

(12) Thunders and Storms|Scarlet's POV|

As soon as I slipped out I heard the first sob erupting from inside the room. My descent down the stairs was followed by a loud crash. I hurt the man but there was no longer a man inside that room – it was a beast.

And the monster was pissed off.

Fighting against the reluctance to linger and listen to him losing himself in his mindless violence, I picked my speed up. Just when I thought I'd managed to escape his wrath, a body hurled itself at me, making me realize once again that it wasn't just him whom I should have been wary of.

There were always others who defended his interest and I, for once, had turned into someone of vital importance both for him and the pack.

After plopping down at one of the steps, I peered up at the person who had cut my escape from this house of ruins. And sure enough, there she was – the person I once called my friend.

Sasha, formerly known as Alexandra or just Alex, screwed up her face at me.

"What did you do to him?" she snarled and took a step closer to me.

Her presence, once something I enjoyed, was now a pickle I tried to avoid at all costs – even punishment. With her upgrade in status a few months ago when she'd finally landed herself between the sheets of the alpha, her attitude toward me changed as well.

She started to pick on me at every chance presented to her and with the other pack females taking to heart any such examples, they quickly followed suit.

I presumed she did what she did to climb the pack ladder and granted, it was an aspiration deserving a pat on the back and a nod of acknowledgment, however, overusing one's body was not the way to do it.

Yet, the movement Sasha had started was far from becoming a dying trend.

"I see you're not asking what he did to me, Alex," I said. "But oh, silly me. I forgot you don't do that now."

She glowered, obviously unhappy to be reminded of the past. I couldn't blame her. I didn't like the reminder either but I'd go above and beyond just to irk her, thus, why I'd usually avoid her like the plague.

Pissing her off never amounted to anything good for me.

"Whatever he did to you it's your own fault so don't play the victim in front of me, half-ling." She held up a finger in front of my face. "And I repeat. What did you do?"

"Get that finger off my face, Sasha!" I snapped and swatted her hand away.

"Or what?" She arched a brow. I rose from the stair step and dusted myself off then directed my meanest look her way.

I chuckled. "Why don't you go and ask him yourself? I'm sure he will be more than happy tell you once you spread those legs of yours and fit him in where every pack male has been." Her eyes shot daggers at me.

"What, did I say something wrong? Aren't your private areas quite renowned amongst the pack males?"

My cheek stung from her slap. One moment she'd been killing me in her head and the next she just flung her hand my way and her palm connected with my face.

I blinked in shock, placed my palm on the side of my face she had slapped then I glanced at her. It wasn't like her to do that but today was obviously an exception. And I knew exactly why she did it.

She was afraid I'd take her place in his bed. Fat chance of that happening.

My lips pulled into a smile. "I'm sorry... Wait, no. Actually, I'm not."

"That's alright, half-ling. Save your sorry for when you're gonna to need it." She smirked at me with that evil grin of hers I'd never see on her face back when we were friends. "And trust me, you're definitely going to need it later."

I didn't like that. Not one bit.

I knew what she was capable of and even if she rarely used her own hands on me, she could always prod her bitches to do it.

"Later?" I fished. I wanted to know what she was planning to do to me. It was true that she rarely resorted to physical violence but after that slap, maybe she would.

"Later as in when I'm fucking your mate's brains out and you're screaming in pain," she supplied. "Or did you think that he's actually going to stop seeing me, luna?" she snapped, her eyes sparkling with an evil glint inside of them. She had finally found a way to hurt me without even laying a hand on me and she would gladly do it.

I looked away. I knew it was going to hurt. With the mate bond now flaring between me and Alpha, it was going to hurt like hell when he did that. It always hurt when mates cheated but there was nothing I could do to change that. A mate bond could never be broken, or at least, no one knew how to break it since it had never been done.

I didn't expect to see her face somber when I glanced up but I did. There was something – a spark, or maybe something else that strangely reminded me of my old friend. Was she holding her tears back? Was it regret that regarded me from the depths of her eyes?

I was imagining things that were not there.

"Don't bet on hurting me through him," I whispered.

"You don't even care about him, do you?" she accused. Why did it matter to her?

"No." I shook my head.

"Good," she mumbled and turned away. A few seconds later, she disappeared from sight just like two years ago my friend disappeared from my life.

I waited a few more minutes, making sure I wouldn't run into her again, then stumbled back to my room.

I didn't go last night or the night before. I couldn't with alpha snooping around my room all night long or with the pack waiting for me to show up for the Shifting. There was no one to stop me now. The pack had conveniently vacated the house and the alpha was going to be occupied with Sasha for a while.

I had to go. I had to make sure I didn't miss my chance if they came.

After a quick change of clothes, I got my bag and stormed outside of the home that was no longer my home.

It was just a house – a house where he wanted me to stay, a house where my mate breathed and laughed and took his pleasures, a house I wanted to leave behind.

Was I ever going to leave this place?

There was no guarantee. There were no more letters, just the one in my hand, the one I held so precious to me for just giving me hope. For two years I held onto that note that said nothing and everything.

'Soon. Be ready.'

I was ready; they were late.

Shoving the paper inside my pocket, I ran. I fled further and further away from that place and I didn't look back.

I didn't need to look to see the storm weaving its way into the house. A storm like nothing they had ever seen was beginning.

I hoped it was going to be tonight. I wished he would wither and die with the other half of his soul missing. I was never going to see the hopeless fall of that despicable man unravel, but I hoped.

I ran.